I listened to a scientist from UCSD give a lecture on malnourished pups washing up last year.
Basically, there was an abundance of squid in the water last year. Sea lion mothers were gobbling up the squid instead of their usual diet of mackerel.
Squid are not fatty. Mackerel are very fatty. Baby mammals need a lot of fat from their mothers' milk in order to survive, but that year the milk was not fatty as a result of mothers gorging on squid, so many pups starved.
I know you're all devastated.
